1980 Topps - Jon Matlack.

Jon Matlack, shown here on card 592 of the 1980 Topps set, was coming off an injury-plagued 1979 season that ended in surgery. The Rangers plan called for Jon to be brought back up to full action slowly since he just resumed throwing in November of 1979 after bone chips were removed from his left elbow. It was hoped that 1980 would be a bounce-back year. In fact, the Rangers made Matlack their Opening Day starter to kick off 1980.

Texas expected no more than seven innings out of Matlack per start in 1980. It didn't take him long to trash those expectations as he went 26.1 innings in his first three starts. He allowed just two earned runs during that stretch. All told, Jon ended up pitching into the ninth inning in ten of his starts. He also gained some attention for ending George Brett's 30-game hit streak on August 19th.

During the course season Matlack appeared in 35 games for Texas. 34 of those appearances were starts, the most of any Rangers pitcher. His 234.2 innings pitch also led the pitching staff. His 3.68 ERA was 45 points lower than the previous season and second only to Gaylord Perry in the starting rotation. Of concern was Jon's 1.334 WHIP, five points higher than the year before. Still, he was striking out far more batters than he walked. 142 whiffs for the season (a team best) as compared to 48 walks. In fact, he led the league in fewest walks allowed per nine innings. It was a measure of the run support Matlack received that he ended the season with a 10-10 record. One of those wins was a shutout.

All in all, the Rangers had to be pretty pleased with the season Jon Matlack turned in in 1980. It wasn't his spectacular 1978 season but, it was very serviceable. After being the workhorse of the Texas rotation, Matlack served notice that he was back from his elbow problems and ready to defend his starting spot.

1979 Topps - Jon Matlack.

Brought to Texas as part of a dizzying four-team trade on December 8, 1977, Jon Matlack had an outstanding year for the Rangers in 1978. Matlack, shown here on card 315 of the 1979 Topps set, led the team with his 2.30 ERA and came in second best in the Majors. It's a Rangers season best record for a left-handed starter that still stands. He didn't get a lot of run support though and ended the season with a pedestrian looking 15-13 record. Going into 1979, Texas was hoping Jon could repeat his 1978 performance and the lineup could give him more run support. Neither happened.

On April 1, in Florida, Matlack was warming up prior to facing the Kansas City Royals in his final Spring Training start. He had enjoyed a fine spring and was slated to start the Rangers season opener in Detroit. As he tossed down the rosin bag, Jon felt a pain in his left shoulder. The Rangers shut him down and he didn't make another start until May 1st. He lasted through July 1st, pitching through pain with pronounced swelling after every start. That wasn't working well so the Rangers shut him down again. Late in the season Matlack underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. He wouldn't throw a baseball again until November, 1979.

In the 13 starts Matlack made for the Rangers in 1979, he posted an unusually high 4.13 ERA and 1.329 WHIP.  He lasted just 85 innings and struck out 35 opposing batters while issuing 15 free passes. He ended the season with a 5-4 record.

1979 had been a painful bust for Jon Matlack and the Rangers. The club was convinced the two were linked. Jon had a lot to come back from in 1980 but the front office thought he could do it. Texas was planning on bringing him along carefully in Spring Training but were hoping he would be ready for the regular season. If he could regain anything close to his 1978 form, it would be a huge improvement over the 1979 campaign.

Best Seasons: Jon Matlack - 1978.

Extra innings loss this afternoon in Arlington. A's split the series and Mike Adams takes the L. Ends a seven game home stand at 3-4. Hopefully the guys can get it back on track against Houston. Might be a good time for another installment from T.R. Sullivan's 50 Best Seasons in Rangers History list.

Jon Matlack, shown here on a signed 1981 Topps card, had his best seasons with the Mets. However, he still had some gas left in the tank when he came to Arlington. 1978 was his first season with Texas and he joined a pitching rotation that included Fergie Jenkins, Doyle Alexander, and Doc Medich. Jon was supposed to bring some added firepower and he did.

Matlack made 33 starts and pitched 18 complete games for a total of 270 innings pitched. All three were team bests. His 2.27 ERA was also a team best, for the whole pitching staff. His 1.122 WHIP was second only to Fergie Jenkins. He tied Fergie for the team lead in strikeouts with 157.

Not bad numbers and the team stayed in contention as they finished second in the American League West. In addition to leading the team in several pitching categories that season, Jon also put his name in the franchise record book. His 2.27 ERA remains the lowest ever by any Rangers pitcher with at least 200 innings pitched in a season. Not too shabby.

40th Anniversary All-Time Team

Well, the voting is open for the Texas Rangers 40th Anniversary All-Time Team. All you have to do is go here and you can vote from a list of selected players for each position. The position players were placed on the ballot due to being among the team's all-time leaders in games played. Pitchers were selected by wins, games started, appearances, and saves.

Here is the way I voted:
C - Ivan Rodriguez. Almost pulled the trigger for Jim Sundberg. In fact, Sunny has done more for the franchise than Pudge if you count his front-office work.
1B - Will Clark. Started winning with Will. Raffy was great but The Thrill helped bring postseason ball to Arlington.
2B - Ian Kinsler. Bump Wills speed, Julio Franco's offense, and Mark McLemore's glove. Kins gets it hands down.
SS - Michael Young. Michael was only listed here and at second. Toby Harrah should have probably beat him out but that's the stiffest competition he had.
3B - Buddy Bell. Steve Buechele's glove, Hank Blalock and Dean Palmer's bats. Almost went with Harrah here in order to get him on the team but Buddy wins out.
OF - Rusty Greer. Simply a company man and all-out player.
OF - Al Oliver. Great bat.
OF - Jeff Burroughs. First MVP award in team history.
DH - Juan Gonzalez. Power. RBI's. Simply decimated opposing pitching at his peak.
SP - Jon Matlack. Kind of a homer vote, kind of not. Probably about the best lefty the Rangers have ever started on a regular basis.
SP - Fergie Jenkins. 1974. Enough said.
RP - Danny Darwin. Starting in 1978 and running through 1984 Danny was a stable influence on a pitching staff in decline.
RP - Neftali Feliz. Rookie record for saves. I know he melted down during the World Series last year but he filled about any role in the pen the club had for him for the past couple of years.

So there you have it. I wasn't real thrilled that there was no chance to vote for backup players and no chance to write in. Toby Harrah and Jim Sundberg in particular need to be on the team. Also, why just two starting pitchers and two relievers? I can't think of any team that uses that small of a pitching staff. I also left off Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira on purpose even though both were on the ballot. The way they left the team did as much or more damage than what they contributed on the field during their stay.

Any else care to share your vote and/or thoughts on the process and ballot?

Quick show-off post.

Very busy day today. Went from work to a meeting to church and now trying to get the kiddos to bed. Not much time to concoct a post.

Since I'm running behind today I decided to show off the latest addition to my Jon Matlack collection. I just picked this 1979 Baseball Guidebook up from Ebay. I had never seen this particular magazine cover of Matlack before so I jumped on it when it popped up. Gotta say that I like the picture.

1,000!

This weekend is a very busy one for the Spiff household. As such I have scheduled today's post as well as the posts for the next few days. Hopefully I am only missing commenting on positive happenings for the Rangers.

For post #500 I posted a Jon Matlack card. For #1,000 I decided to go with Matlack again. This time he appears as a new Ranger on the cover of the third issue of the 1978 Sports Quarterly. Gotta love the headlines. "The Texas Menace" and "Pittsburgh Rises Again". Guess it's time for a repeat.

Post number one on this blog was a welcome post followed the same day by the Rangers rookies card from the 1972 Topps set. That was in January of 2008. A little over three and a half years later here we are at #1,000. It's been a fun time for the most part, even if there were moments of frustration with the Rangers and a lack of inspiration with the blog. Hope you have gotten a little enjoyment from it as well. A few of the highlights to this point:

• Comments and feedback from those who have taken the time to read the blog.
• Trades with new friends, fellow bloggers, and readers.
• Willie Lozado commenting on the blog and graciously granting me an interview.
• Joe Wardlow's comment on a post.
• Getting a free Strat-O-Matic game and being able to give away free games to readers.
• The stint at the top of Google search results for Texas Rangers Cards.
  

There are many more that I can't recall off the top of my head so the list is by no means complete. I have really enjoyed taking another look at my Rangers collection and appreciate all the comments and support from readers. If there is a post or series of posts that you have found particularly interesting or amusing I would love to hear about it. Thanks again for reading.

Matlack takes the title!

You may remember that previously I wrote about being involved in a contest over at The Bench. The Benchies are a yearly face-off that the site sponsors between various categories of collections. Members in good standing vote on the collections.

This year marked the third year of the contests and I again entered my Jon Matlack collection. Last year my collection had lost out in the final round of voting and I fully expected a similar or worse result this year.

Much to my surprise I won the title of Best Player Collection 2010. Wow! What an awesome surprise. Just wanted to share the moment. Guess I will need to figure out how to label my Matlack collection as award-winning.

For those that would rather not click on links, here is the entry that I made in the contest:

Spiff
Player Collected - Jon Matlack
Basic Stats - 107/114 Beckett listed cards = 94%
10 cards not recognized by Beckett
Cards include:
3/4 Game used issued,
Only two serial numbered cards issued,
Only certified auto issued,
Two different custom MLB Showdown cards,
Two 1982 Topps Proof cards.
Additional items include:
Two autographed baseballs,
Autographed plastic Tigers helmet,
Autographed bat,
Two different placemats,
Seven different magazines/programs with Jon on cover,
Eight different wire services photos,
Five different autographed 8x10 photos,
Two graded cards (not included in other totals),
Endorsed check from MLB Players Association to Jon,
Two RC cans,
Pre-Rolled RC can,
25 different on-card autographs,
1970's fast-food drink lid.
Link to website -
Wantlist - http://www.freewebs.com/spiff45/matlack.htm
Pictures and scans - http://s50.photobucket.com/albums/f3...Jon%20Matlack/

Getting his name in the papers.

Got this picture in today. It is about 8x10 and is a glossy black and white. I picked it up on Ebay. Why, you might ask. Well, in addition to it being a picture of Jon Matlack there are a couple of other interesting points.

The picture has no description on the front but if you turn it over the situation changes. It came from the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper and is stamped as such. According to the label glued to the back, the photographer was Chuck Kirman. Mr. Kirman took the picture in the 1st inning of the June 2, 1980 game at "Sox Park" as the label puts it. Under the label is a strip of newspaper that contains the caption used in the paper the next day. "Rangers' Jon Matlack fires away. He retired the first ten Sox before Alan Bannister singled in the fourth. (Sun-Times Photo by Chuck Kirman)" On June 3, 1980 the picture was stamped again as it was placed in the Sun-Times library.

Since I had a specific date for the game that Jon is shown throwing in I decided to see how he did. According to Retrosheet the Rangers got one run across before Jon ever threw a pitch. He is working with a 1-0 lead here. Matlack then held the ChiSox scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when they pushed across a run. In the bottom of the sixth Jon came on with a 1-1 tie and got Harry Chappas to foul out to third baseman Buddy Bell. Then is started to rain. At 9:10 p.m. a rain delay was called. At 9:40 the umpires called the game.

Kind of bummed out that this picture wasn't from a win. I guess it wasn't from a loss either though so that works out I suppose. I like it because I have found way more pictures of Jon with the Mets than with the Rangers. Nice to see him with the "T" on his hat.

In brief.

Not much going on today in Ranger-land or with my motivation so here is a random Jon Matlack card, number 315 in the 1979 Topps set.

500!

So here I am at 500 posts since starting this blog. I must say that the just under two years since the start has been very enjoyable. I have met some great folks and made a few nice trades. Hopefully I have been able to entertain you and possibly even make you think once in awhile. I had thought about having a contest or giveaway to mark the occasion. To be honest though, I am not sure I have anything that anyone might want to compete for. Perhaps I will try and secure a few things for the two year mark.

Some things have changed since I started writing. A few blogs I followed have been retired and others have come on the scene. Inspired by some fellow bloggers I have gotten back into the autograph request game. My collecting focus has shifted a bit as well. Jon Matlack, shown here on card 215 of the 1982 Donruss set, is still my main focus. I am surprised looking at my stats to see that I have only posted three of his cards before this one. Ivan Rodriguez and my Rangers collection have flip-flopped on the priority list. I am still a fan of Pudge but am currently more excited about finishing off Rangers team sets.

Speaking of finishing off Rangers team sets, I have decided to start posting some of my wantlists on Wednesdays. I figure I can do a team set at a time. Since I have Jon's 1982 Donruss card up I might as well start with that one. Only need two cards to finish it up:

1982 Donruss
89 Jim Kern
341 Steve Comer

Let me know if you have either of these cards and perhaps we can work a trade. I have older and newer commons from most teams and actually do have a small trade list.

Thanks to everyone for making the first 500 a great time. I will do my best to keep you amused and interested.

Random Rangers auto #4.

I was hoping to get my favorite player in here. Jon Matlack is always an awesome signer. He has come through for me several times. This particular 1984 Topps card was an Ebay purchase though.

Final face off!

Today's card is Jon Matlack's 1981 Topps Super Home Team card. This card has no number.

Decided to post a Matlack card today because my Matlack collection survived the final four and is now in the final match-up for The Benchies. This poll I am up against a pretty impressive Andruw Jones collection. I have a feeling this vote will be pretty tight, no matter which way it comes out. Win or lose though, I am pleased with how far the collection has come.

In other news, several people have contacted me about the team lots I listed for trade a couple of posts ago. I have a deal finalized on the White Sox and have them packaged for Monday mailing. The Rockies and Dodgers are in negotiations to go. As for the rest, well go ahead and get in touch with me folks and let's trade!

1993 Rangers Keebler - Jon Matlack

Number 248 in the set is Matlack. I like this card because I collect Matlack and so I get Jon in a Rangers uniform. Two for one so to speak.

I also like the card because of the set. I only have series #5 (of 8) in the set but have always liked the idea and would love to get the other seven. The set was given away at home games during the 1993 season and included every player, manager, and coach up to that point to ever appear in a Rangers uniform. Very cool concept in my book. It would be great if the Rangers could update the set every few years. The only downside to the whole idea is that the sets are so hard to come by.

1984 Topps - Jon Matlack

1984 Topps Jon Matlack. Not much to look at but still one of the more favored cards in my collection for a couple of reasons.

This was the last card that Jon had issued during his MLB playing career. Sure he had several minor league and looking back cards issued later but this was the end of the line for active player cards. After a dismal season in 1983 the Rangers placed him on waivers and he went unclaimed.

This was also the first Jon Matlack card I ever managed to get my hands on. The beginning of a pretty large Matlack collection. I didn't actually start collecting until 1987 and so the card was already three years out of print. It wasn't until even later that I latched onto Jon. Somebody gave me his 1984 Topps card on a whim and I was hooked. Spent the next several years asking for his cards at any shop or show I went to. The Internet was not on my radar screen yet and buying cards online was something I couldn't yet foresee. I kind of miss the shows and shops but I have to say that I have managed to pick up a lot of Rangers and Matlack cards from online that I could never have found before.